Question:medium

Tyndall effect is exhibited by:

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The Tyndall effect is a characteristic of colloidal solutions due to the scattering of light by larger particles.
Updated On: Jul 6, 2026
  • True solutions
  • Suspensions
  • Colloidal solutions
  • Crystals
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The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

Understanding the Concept:
The Tyndall effect shows up as a visible beam of light passing through a medium, caused by particles scattering the light sideways toward the observer's eye.

Key Formula or Approach:
Three kinds of mixtures can be compared by their particle size: true solutions (particles under 1 nanometre), colloids (1 to 1000 nanometres), and suspensions (over 1000 nanometres, often visible to the naked eye).

Detailed Explanation:
True solutions cannot scatter light because their particles are far smaller than the wavelength of light. Suspensions have particles large enough to scatter light too, but they are also heavy enough to settle out of the medium over time, so any scattering is temporary and inconsistent. Colloidal particles are the right size to scatter light strongly while staying suspended indefinitely because they are light enough to be kept moving by collisions with the surrounding medium's molecules. This combination is why the beam of a projector through smoky air, or a torch through milk, stays visible over time.

Final Answer:
Colloidal solutions are the ones that exhibit the Tyndall effect.
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Approach Solution -2

A quick way to sort through the options is to picture an everyday example of each and ask whether a light beam becomes visible passing through it.

  1. True solutions: Shine a torch through clear salt water and the beam is invisible inside the liquid; the ions are too small to bend the light sideways.
  2. Suspensions: Shine a torch through muddy water and the beam does show up briefly, but the mud particles are heavy and settle to the bottom soon after, so this is not the reliable, stable case the effect is usually associated with.
  3. Colloidal solutions: Shine a torch through milk or a starch solution and the beam stays clearly visible without the mixture separating, since colloidal particles are both big enough to scatter light and small enough to stay dispersed.
  4. Crystals: A solid crystal, like a lump of sugar or salt, is not a dispersed medium at all; there is no liquid or gas carrying separated particles through which a beam could scatter sideways.

Picturing these familiar cases confirms that the stable, visible scattering associated with the Tyndall effect belongs to colloids.

So the correct answer is colloidal solutions.

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